Fifa appoints Fatma Samoura as first female secretary general

 Fifa broke new ground by appointing a Senegalese United Nations official as its first female and first non-European secretary general.

•  Fatma Samoura has no experience working in sports but Fifa President Gianni Infantino hopes that will help it try to regain the trust and credibility of the world.

Fédération Internationale de Football Association(FIFA) :

• Headquarters- Zürich, Switzerland
• Membership-  211 national associations
• President- Gianni Infantino
• Senior Vice-President Issa Hayatou

Vice-Presidents-

1.  Ángel María Villar
2. David Chung
3. Salman Bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa
4. David Gill
5. Alejandro Dominguez
6. Sunil Gulati

Secretary General -Fatma Samoura

Anil Kumble re-appointed ICC Cricket Committee chairman

 Former India captain Anil Kumble has been re-appointed ICC (International Cricket Council) Cricket Committee chairman for a second term of three years.

•  Earlier he was appointed as the chairman for his first term in 2012 and now he will continue to head the panel until 2018. 
• Besides, former Indian Rahul Dravid was also named member of the ICC Cricket Committee.
•  Former Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardene also has been appointed member. 
• Former Australia off-spinner Tim May has been elected as current player representative and shall replace Laxman Sivaramakrishnan, who has completed his three-year term.
•  Three-time ICC Umpire of the Year Richard Kettleborough also has been appointed as umpires’ representative in the committee.

ICC (International Cricket Council) :

• Headquarters -Dubai, United Arab Emirates
• Chairman- Shashank Manohar
• President -Zaheer Abbas
• CEO- David Richardson

Axis Bank appoints Sanjiv Misra as chairman

Private sector lender Axis Bank has appointed Sanjiv Misra as independent director and non-executive chairman for five years with effect from May 12, 2016.

• It is for the first time, the chairman is being appointment by the bank and not nominated by SUUTI (Specified Undertaking of the UTI) which has more than 11 per cent stake in Axis Bank.
• This follows a change made in the Articles of Association (AoA) of the bank.
• The bank also elevated Rajesh Dahiya and Rajiv Anand as executive directors. 
• They will be on the board of the bank.

Axis Bank :

Headquarters- Mumbai, Maharashtra

(MD & CEO)- Shikha Sharma 

Shashank Manohar elected unopposed as ICC’s first independent Chairman

 Veteran cricket administrator Shashank Manohar was elected unopposed as ICC’s (International Cricket Council) first independent Chairman.

•  He was the sole nominee for the position and the ICC Board has now unanimously supported his appointment. 
• He will have tenure of two years.
•  ICC the international governing body of cricket is head-quarterd at Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Rodrigo Duterte wins 2016 Philippines Presidential Election

Anti-crime candidate and mayor of Davao City, Rodrigo Duterte has won the 2016 presidential election of the Philippines by a landslide victory.

•  He will become the 16th President-elect of Philippines.
•  In the Presidential election held on 9 May 2016, Rodrigo Duterte secured 39% (15.36 million) of the votes.

Philippines :

1. Capital - Manila
2. Currency- Philippine peso

Atma Ram Nadkarni appointed as Additional Solicitor General

Senior advocate of Bombay High Court Atma Ram Nadkarni on 9 May 2016 was appointed as Additional Solicitor General (ASG). 

• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) approved the appointment of Nadkarni as Additional Solicitor General in Supreme Court for a period of three years.

Sadiq Khan elected first Muslim Mayor of London

 

Sadiq Khan became London’s first Muslim mayor, as voters rejected attempts to taint him with links to extremism and handed a decisive victory to the bus driver’s son from south London.

•  Khan hailed his victory as the triumph of “hope over fear and unity over division.” Labour Party candidate Khan received more than 1.3 million votes – 57 per cent of the total – to Conservative rival Zac Goldsmith’s 43 per cent, after voters’ first and second preferences were allocated.

Somnath Ghosh named as next Ambassador to Tajikistan

 Somnath Ghosh has been named as the next Ambassador of India to the Republic of Tajikistan.

•  Presently he is serving as Ambassador of India to Mangolia. 
• He will succeed Biraja Prasad who passed away in February this year.

Tajikistan :

• Capital: Dushanbe
• Currency- Somoni 
•  President - Imomali Rakhmon
• Prime minister: Kokhir Rasulzoda

Enda Kenny wins second term as Ireland’s prime minister

 Enda Kenny has been re-elected as prime minister of Ireland after 10 weeks of deadlock that followed an inconclusive general election in February. 

• Kenny is the first Fine Gael PM to win re-election in Irish history, though his triumph is marred by a minority administration that is propped up by independent MPs and, more crucially, by Fianna Fáil.
•  The party, which will remain on the opposition benches, has agreed to support the Fine Gael government for a period of two years in an unprecedented political ceasefire between the rivals.
• Kenny received 59 votes, with 49 against, in the 158-member parliament – by far the fewest votes ever received for a winning premier in Ireland.

Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba appointed as Chief of the Naval Staff

 Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba has been appointed as next Chief of the Naval Staff. 

• He will be 23rd chief of Indian Navy and 21st as an Indian. 
• He will assume the charge on 31 May 2016 and shall have full three-year-term in office till 31 May 2019.
•  He will succeed incumbent Navy Chief Admiral Robin K. Dhowan, who will superannuate from the post on 31 May 2016.

Radha Binod Barman took over as Chairperson of National Statistical Commission

Renowned statistician Dr Radha Binod Barman took over as the part-time Chairperson in the National Statistical Commission (NSC).

•  Besides, Professor Rahul Mukherjee, Professor S. Mahendra Dev, Dr Rajiv Mehta and Dr Manoj Panda also took over as other part-time members of the commission.

 About National Statistical Commission:

•  The Commission is an advisory body on all statistical matters, set up to enhance public trust in official statistics.
•  It was established in 2006 based on the recommendation of C. Rangarajan Commission to reduce problems faced by statistical agencies in the country in relation to collection of data.
•  The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog is the ex-officio Member in the Commission.

Ajay Mittal takes charge as I&B Secretary

Himachal Pradesh cadre IAS officer of 1982 batch Ajay Mittal today took charge as the Information and Broadcasting secretary. 

• Mittal, succeeds Sunil Arora, who retired on April 30. 
• Mittal has joined the I&B ministry at a time when it is planning to conduct the next batch of radio auctions, streamlining the film certification processes and also the remaining phases of the digitisation of cable sector drive.
• During a career span of more than 33 years, Mittal has served in various capacities in his cadre state of Himachal Pradesh. 

Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India) :

• The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (Ministry of I&B) is a branch of the Government of India is the apex body for formulation and administration of the rules and regulations and laws relating to information, broadcasting, the press and films in India.
• The Ministry is responsible for the administration of Prasar Bharati-the broadcasting arm of the Indian Government. 

UN Chief Appoints Indian Academician To University Council

Indian academician, Radha Kumar, is among 12 people appointed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the global body’s University Council to formulate its principles and policies, consider and approve biennial budget and work programme.

• The 12 appointees, who will take office next month, will serve for terms of either three or six years.

About the UN University Council:

• The main functions of the UN University Council are to formulate the principles and policies of the University, govern its operations, and consider and approve its biennial budget and work programme.
• Appointed members of the Council serve in their individual capacity and not as representatives of their country’s government.
• They are selected with the aim of achieving a geographic and gender balance, with due regard for major academic, scientific, educational and cultural trends, as well as each member’s fields of expertise.

Lobsang Sangay re-elected Tibetan PM

Tibetan legal scholar and politician Lobsang Sangay has been re-elected as the Prime Minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile based in Dharamsala.

• Darjeeling-born Dr. Sangay, who had first become the Sikyong (equivalent to the Prime Minister) of the Tibetan government-in-exile in August 2011.
• The result was formally declared by Chief Election Commissioner Sonam Chhoplae. Forty-five new members from across the world have also been declared elected along with Mr. Sangay.
• This was the second election after the Dalai Lama stepped down as the head of the government in 2011, preferring to remain only as the religious-spiritual head.

Tibet :

• Tibet is a region on the Tibetan Plateau in Asia. 
• It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Qiang and Lhoba peoples and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han Chinese and Hui people.

Salman Khan to be Goodwill Ambassador for Rio Olympics 2016

   

  Bollywood actor Salman Khan will be the goodwill ambassador for the Indian contingent at the Rio Olympics 2016.

•  The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) had to choose between two to three candidates including Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan. 

 IOA have chosen Salman Khan considering he is more connected with youth and sport persons. 

Salman Khan will be the face and mascot of the Indian Rio Olympics contingent in Rio Olympics.

•  He will be part of the some of the promotional events.  
• This is the first time when a Bollywood superstar will be a goodwill ambassador for the national squad for such a big event like summer Olympics.

Rio Olympics 2016 :

• Host city  - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Motto- Live your passion

Bhupendra Kainthola appointed FTII Director

• Indian Information Service (IIS) officer Bhupendra Kainthola was today appointed as Director of Pune-based Film and Television Institute of India (FTII). 
• Kainthola, a 1989 batch IIS officer, has been appointed to the post for three years, an order issued by Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT). 
• FTII, which has been in news due to controversy over the appointment of television actor Gajendra Chauhan as its chairman, is an autonomous body under Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. 
• FTII, is the country's premier institute that provides training for acting, film making, video editing, direction and production.
• Kainthola will replace Prashant Pathrabe .
• Prior to this appointment he was serving as Director (News Room) with DD News since January 2015. He was responsible for ‘management of news operations and output’.

About Film and Television Institute of India :

• Established- 1960
• Chairman- Gajendra Chauhan
• Location- Pune, Maharashtra, India